A Chronicle of Survival

March 4, 2015: Touch Someone

The Volmers stopped by yesterday and filled up a couple garden carts with supplies. No toilet paper. Hopefully, they told everyone they talked to about their left-handed experience.

Joseph and I have continued on a path generally north by northwest and have discovered two more occupied farms. The other members of the Reach Out teams have continued on their directional paths as well, finding a few more occupied farms. All in all, we’ve probably reached out and touched close to 100 people so far.

Each family on each farm has a story to tell. This is not quick work, nor should it be. We are building or rebuilding relationships. That takes time. As we range farther away from our own farm, even more time will be required.

So, far we haven’t found any more Hernandez outposts. That leaves me cautiously optimistic. Cut off the head and the rest of the snake will die. I hope. Hope is not a strategy, however. We need to make sure that this snake is completely dead.

The Gunters seem to be rejoining us. Understandably, after Jake’s execution they were in mourning. After the birth of Jamie’s baby, some of the life seems to have come back into them. They’re not laughing and joking or anything like that but they’re talking to us again. I’ve even seen a couple smiles as they look at little Jacob. That’s a start.

I’m sure none of them wanted to see Jake dead, but in many ways it probably makes their lives easier in some way. I could see how they reacted around him. It was like they were walking on eggshells, trying to avoid breaking them. Granted, that’s no reason to put a man to death but, like I said, having him gone … I can’t think of a better way to put it … makes their lives more bearable.

We have a pow-wow scheduled with Pete and his family the day after tomorrow. We’re going to make something of an event out of it. There will be a pot-luck dinner. We’ll do some trading. Maybe we can get some more toilet paper. I have a sneaking suspicion that Pete has been wiping with his left hand like the Volmers, though.

A few members of our respective families play instruments, so we might even have a dance. With little to no practice, in who knows how long, I’m sure the music will be terrible. I doubt anyone will care.

The primary reason for the pow-wow is to discuss thoughts on three subjects – revitalizing the Union Creek community, ensuring that the Hernandez gang is gone forever and establishing a rule of law. I’m eager to hear Pete and his wife’s ideas on the rule of law subject. Theresa has a PhD in Anthropology after all. She should be able to provide perspective from myriad cultures. Pete may have some interesting thoughts from the perspective of the Lakota Sioux. How did they govern? I’m sure they had a chief, like most tribes, but how did they develop the rules for their society?

On the subject of trading … in addition to toilet paper, I would really like to trade for some horses. We have two old nags that really are more of a hindrance than a help. They can still be ridden, but not far or hard. They certainly couldn’t pull a farm implement.

Pete has a nice herd of horses. I wonder what he needs. We gave him and his boys each an M4, and 33 thirty-round magazines loaded with M855 ammo, from the National Guard armory. So, he no longer needs firearms or ammo.

Maybe a PV setup for his house? I think we have enough spare parts to put one together. Trouble is, I don’t know if Pete cares about electricity. He’s done without it long enough that it may be completely useless to him.

Perhaps some diesel fuel for more explosives ….

I’ll need to give this one some thought. What do you give a man who has everything he needs in the new normal?